Suffering and Deliverance (Part 13) - Joseph, Moses

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7. Joseph A. Joseph was delivered from being killed by his brethren. i. As we saw in the previous section, Joseph's brethren conspired to kill him because they envied him (Gen 37:11, 17-20). ii. They devised a wicked way, but the Lord directed the thoughts of Ruben who suggested that they throw him into a pit instead of killing him (Gen 37:21-22 c/w Pro 16:9). iii. The Lord put it in Judah's heart (Pro 21:1) to sell Joseph instead of killing him (Gen 37:26-27). iv. There are some lessons we can learn from this. a. Our greatest foes will often they of our own household (Mat 10:36). b. God can change the hearts and minds of our enemies in order to deliver us. c. Our deliverance may not come in the form that we had hoped for. d. If we remain faithful, better days lie ahead, which the rest Joseph's story shows. B. Joseph was delivered from prison. i. While overseer of Potiphar's house, Joseph was cast into prison because he was falsely accused of attempted rape (Gen 39:17-20). ii. The Lord was with Joseph in prison and put him in charge of the inmates (Gen 39:21-23). iii. Joseph was in prison for a least two years (Gen 41:1). iv. God gave Joseph the power to interpret dreams which ended up being his ticket to be released from prison to become the Prime Minister of Egypt (Gen 41:9-16, 37-41). v. There are some lessons we can learn from this. a. We will sometimes suffer for doing righteousness and being falsely accused. b. If we serve God faithfully in bad circumstances, God will be with us and reward us, making the unfortunate situation more easy to bear. c. Sometimes God will let us suffer patiently for a long time before delivering us. d. If we are diligent in our business, even while suffering in prison, God will take notice and may deliver us out of it to serve in high places (Pro 22:29). 8. Moses A. Moses was delivered from death as a baby. i. After the death of Joseph the children of Israel were afflicted by the Egyptians, which only caused them to multiply (Exo 1:12). ii. Note: the church always grows under persecution. iii. To reduce the population the king of Egypt commanded the Hebrew midwives to kill all the baby boys that were born (Exo 1:15-16). a. Note: abortion, ethnic cleansing, and population control are not new concepts. b. The midwives disobeyed the order, saved the baby boys' lives, and then righteously lied about it, for which God blessed them (Exo 1:17-21). (i) This was the first act that God did to deliver Moses from death before he was born. (ii) Remember that God is well able to deliver us even when we are in a completely helpless condition. iv. Pharaoh then charged the people to cast every son that was born into the river (Exo 1:22). a. Moses' mother disobeyed the wicked order of Pharaoh and hid Moses for three months (Exo 2:1-2). b. When she could hide him no longer, she made an ark, placed him in it, and put it in the water near the bank of the river, and his sister watched to see what would happen (Exo 2:3-4). c. Pharaoh's daughter found baby Moses in the ark, knew he was the son of one of the Hebrews, and had compassion on him (Exo 2:5-6). d. Moses' sister asked her if she wanted her to go find him a Hebrew wet nurse, which she agreed to; so she went and got their mother (Exo 2:7-8). e. Pharaoh's daughter paid Moses' mother to nurse him until he was weaned at which time he became the son of Pharaoh's daughter (Exo 2:9-10). v. There are some lessons we can learn from this. a. God can use women who are weaker vessels to deliver his children from death. b. God uses people who are brave enough to defy ungodly government laws to save life and blesses them for it. c. When we are helpless and our helpers are unable to help us any further and the situation looks impossible, God can use an unlikely person to deliver us. d. God can use people who are near the highest places of government to deliver us. e. God sometimes allows us to undergo great danger and deliverance because He has special plans to use us in the future. B. Moses was also delivered from death after he killed an Egyptian. i. After Moses' was grown he went out to see his Hebrew brethren and saw an Egyptian attacking a Hebrew, whom he defended, killing the Egyptian (Exo 2:11-12 c/w Act 7:23-24). ii. Word got out, and Pharaoh sought to kill Moses, but he escaped to the land of Midian (Exo 2:13-15). iii. This is the second time that God delivered Moses from death. iv. When he got to Midian, God providentially provided him with a wife and family (Exo 2:16-22). v. Moses lived in Midian until God called him to go back to Egypt to lead His people out of Egypt to the promised land. vi. There are some lessons we can learn from this. a. Sometimes God will deliver us by having us flee. b. Even if the king of the most powerful empire in the world tries to kill you, if God has plans for your life, He will deliver you from him. c. God sometimes will use the heathen to give his people a place of refuge until He is ready to use them for great things.